Office of Health Disparities Reduction Website

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Moving Forward in 2010 and Health Status by Race and Ethnicity 2010 are now available by chapter for the benefit of people with slower Internet connections or those who only wish to download certain sections of the reports.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

When officials needed to evacuate thousands of Herriman residents endangered by wildfires on September 19, the Valley Emergency Communications Center (VECC), which administers 911, called the residents. VECC has all the landline phone numbers of residents in its jurisdiction, but only has cell phone or voice over internet numbers of people who have registered them. People without landlines or registered alternate numbers did not receive the call.

Photo courtesy of Cornelia Cannon and Connor Shutt

It is important to register your cell phone with 911 if you live or work in an area where a cell phone registry is offered by the local 911 service provider. 911 may be able to use this information to contact you during a large-scale emergency such as the Herriman fire. It may also help identify your location when you call 911 during a more isolated emergency, such as a heart attack or a crime at your residence or workplace.

Utah has a the second-highest proportion of people who use only cell phones instead of land lines. Preliminary data from the Utah BRFSS suggest that cell phone-only households are even more prevalent among Utah minorities than statewide.

Here are the links to cell phone registries in some Utah areas. Outside of these areas, contact your local fire department or local police station to learn how to register your cell phone.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Today, September 23 2010, is exactly six months since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act became law. (This law is commonly referred to as the federal health reform law.) On this important day, several provisions of the law go into effect for the first time. These reforms will make it easier for young adults and sick children to get health insurance. The law will forbid insurance companies from dropping coverage of enrollees because they became sick and encourage preventive care by requiring health insurance companies to offer many preventive services for free, without co-pays or deductibles.

Provisions Going Into Effect TODAY:

Health plans that cover families must allow enrollees' children to stay on their parents' health insurance policies until they turn 26 years old, regardless of whether they are married, in school or financially dependent on their parents. See http://www.healthcare.gov/law/provisions/youngadult/index.html for more information.

Insurance companies may not deny coverage to children under the age of 19 due to a pre-existing condition.